TREC Tairāwhiti recovery update

Issue 28

22 August 2025

Tēnā koe

In this edition, we highlight recent updates from the teams behind the Hikuwai Bridge replacement, Hakanui Straight flood resilience, and Mangahauini Gorge projects, along with some of the ways we’ve been connecting with the communities we work in.

Thanks for your ongoing patience as we continue our recovery mahi.

New road layout at SH35 Hikuwai Bridge

Parata Contracting Ltd has completed construction of a 250 metre long temporary road on State Highway 35 (SH35) at Hikuwai Bridge.

From Tuesday 27 August at 6pm traffic will be switched onto the new road.

Although the realignment is minor, motorists are reminded to drive with care while adjusting to the new road layout and follow the 30 km/h speed limit currently in place.

The temporary road provides a larger and safer work space between live traffic and the construction area for main works to start on the replacement bridge.

For more information on the Hikuwai Bridge replacement project visit the project website.

Temporary road looking south to Tolaga Bay.

Hikuwai sparking excitement in our youngest community members

This week our Hikuwai project team visited Kura Kaupapa Maori O Mangatuna located approximately  5 minutes’ drive south of the work site to share more about the Hikuwai Bridge replacement.

The visit was a great opportunity to connect with tamariki and staff about the project and the various roles and skills that come together to build a bridge.

As part of the visit, students took part in some hands-on activities, including having a go at using a dumpy level (survey equipment), a clegg (impact soil tester) and also handled some remnants of the old bridge.

The visit was a fantastic way to connect with the kura, answer questions, and spark excitement about the project.

Thank you to the kura for the warm welcome and the manaakitanga shown to our team. We look forward to returning as the main works get underway and to keeping our youngest community members involved.

Fun times at Kura Kaupapa Maori o Mangatuna.

Watt a success: Power poles relocated and reconnected

It’s full steam ahead at our Hakanui Straight site on State Highway 2 (SH2), where crews are finishing up early enabling works and preparing to begin major earthworks to raise the road.

To make way for the new 3-metre-high embankment, power lines were recently relocated. This week, reconnection was successfully completed under stop/go traffic management.

Thanks for your patience while this critical step was carried out.

Protecting the Hakanui Stream

Local kaitiaki and ecologists continue to work closely with our crew to make sure the Hakanui Stream’s health comes first during the project.

To keep the awa healthy during construction, we’ve built a drainage channel along 1 side of the road. This clean water diversion helps manage sediment and stormwater run-off, preventing it from entering the awa.

With power lines shifted and groundwork nearly complete, the team is ticking off final enabling tasks before launching into full-scale earthworks.

Please drive safely and expect short delays when passing through. Giving yourself an extra 10 minutes travel time and staying patient helps keep everyone safe.

You can find out more on the project website.

The new water diversion being constructed.

Gearing up in the gorge

There’s been plenty happening in the Mangahauini Gorge (SH35) lately as our team gets ready for the final stage of recovery work, starting soon.

If you’ve driven through recently, you might have noticed the new site offices and one of the temporary access roads crossing the Mangahauini River. These roads will help our crews safely carry out important riverworks by the existing sheet pile wall.  It also means less disruption for highway traffic while we work.

This will be removed once the job’s done, and the area is restored. We’ll share more information on upcoming works in the next issue.

Site supervisor Butch McGinnis standing beside one of the temporary access roads.

Creating shared understanding before work starts

Waiparapara Marae in Tokomaru Bay hosted TREC staff and local contractors for a pōhiri last week, ahead of the final phase of recovery work in the Mangahauini Gorge.

TREC has worked closely with iwi and hapū to design upgrades that protect the awa and ensure infrastructure can be maintained by locals. Upcoming works include river management, drainage and culvert improvements and a highway rebuild.

This stage is especially meaningful, with much of the work taking place near the original site of the marae where the pōhiri was held. It was relocated from the Mangahauini Gorge to its current position as a protection measure from potential invasion many years ago.

TREC Pou Ārahi, Na Raihania, said that the pōhiri was not only a formal welcome, but also an opportunity to build shared understanding of the area's history and a collective sense of responsibility before work begins.

“It’s important for everyone to feel our history, and how the Whenua and the Awa are integral to our inter-generational connectedness, he said.

“This area is of the deepest ancestral and cultural significance. We as a whanau are an extension of our Taiao (environment) the Mangahauini is our Pepeha (identity) it’s our Mauri (life blood) it’s us – we are the Mangahauini.”

TREC and some of the local contractors who will deliver recovery works in the Mangahauini Gorge at Waiparapara Marae.

State highway snapshot

Below is a snapshot of construction works either underway or coming soon. You can also view completed, current and future work sites on our interactive map.

Here are some of the construction terms we use:

• Bund – embankment that creates a barrier
• Buttress – supporting structure
• Counterfort drain – drain that improves slope stability by controlling groundwater 
• Gabion wall - baskets filled with rocks
• Hanbar – specially designed interlocking blocks
• MSE (Mechanically Stabilised Earth) – a retaining wall construction technique used to stabilise slopes
• Rip rap - large rocks
• Rock revetment – protection
• Scour - erosion
• Shotcrete – sprayed liquid concrete
• Soil anchors/soil nails – a device used to hold, restrain and support structures
• Willow wall – using willows as ‘living walls’ to stabilise slips

SH2 underway

• Matawai Road – willow wall to stabilise slip.
• Otoko Hill (site K) - overslip repairs.
• Hakanui Straight (formerly called Nesbitt’s Dip) project – flood improvements.

SH2 coming soon

• Otoko Hill (site M) - underslip repairs.

SH35 underway

• Hikuwai Bridge No.1 replacement – enabling (early) works.
• Mangahauini Gabion Wall – Stage 2 – soil nails, buttress and rip rap at the bottom of the existing gabion wall.
• Kopuaroa Slip 1 – reinstate SH35 to 2 lanes by installing a soil anchor and shotcrete wall.
• Tōrere – underslip and overslip repairs.
• Paronga - D9 Gully Site – buttress wall with MSE. Two faults to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes.
• Kemps Hill subsidence – buttress repair using a willow wall. Three faults to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes.
• Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge repairs – strengthening works.
• Makatote dropout #2 – buttress support and rip rap to prevent future river erosion.

SH35 coming soon

• Hikuwai Bridge No.1 replacement – main works.
• Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge revetment – scour protection.
• Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge – southern end strengthening.
• Maraehara – underslip repairs.
• Uawa River Scour – 2 underslips to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes.
• Kopuaroa – drainage improvements.
• Paronga (D9) – drainage improvements.
• Mangahauini - additional recovery works.
• Rototahe - flood improvements.

Whakapā mai – Get in touch

• Email us
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Call us: 0800 80 TREC (0800 80 8732)

If you spot an issue at a work site after hours, call 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 444449).

Sign-up to receive these regular newsletters:

• TREC Pānui (general newsletter)
• TREC Hawke's Bay regional update
• This TREC Tairāwhiti regional update

Local road network

Gisborne District Council is responsible for local roading recovery projects. More information.

Up-to-date information on local road closures.